Inga M. Beck

About three weeks ago or so I read a novella called The Price of Salt by one Patricia Highsmith first published in 1952. It is a story that deals with lesbianism and the prejudice that follows, at least in the time where it takes place. The main character of the story, Therese, is a young theatre set designer in a long term relationship with a an artist named Richard who loves her but she does not seem to care that much for him. She likes his company and perhaps the stability that comes with being in a relationship but it is quite apparent that she does not love him and she knows it too. It becomes more clear why she does not love him when she falls instantly in love with a woman who comes into the shop where she works one day – a married woman.

I liked this novella a lot, mostly for the lesbian theme. In my opinion there is not enough books that deal with lesbian, gay, bi or trans people. They are a big part of our society and yet they seem to hold very little part in our literature. I have not had the chance to research it as much as I would like to but judging by a simple Google search it still has a long way to go. When you search “books with dragons in them” you get 8x more results than searching for “books with LGBT themes”… I don’t know about you but I think in your basic daily life you run into more people who fit the LGBT category than you do dragons.

I also very recently found out that they are making a movie based on the novella and will start filming next year. I do approve of the choice of actors: Cate Blanchett (who is probably nowadays best known for her part in Lord of the Rings as Galadriel) as Carol and Mia Wasikowska (who I believe did a great job as Wonderland’s Alice along with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter) as Therese the theatre set designer. I look forward to see that film, and you should too. And I recommend reading the novella to anyone who has read this far.